Watch: Branson’s Virgin Galactic takes off for key flight milestone

Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic took off from California’s Mojave desert today for a mission that, if successful, would mark the first US human flight beyond the atmosphere since the end of America’s shuttle program in 2011.

In the first steps before a high-altitude rocket launch, Virgin’s twin-fuselage carrier airplane holding the SpaceShipTwo passenger spacecraft took off soon after 7 am local time from the Mojave Air and Space Port, about 90 miles (145 km) north of Los Angeles.

Virgin’s latest flight test comes four years after the original SpaceShipTwo crashed during a test flight that killed the co-pilot and seriously injured the pilot, dealing a major setback to Virgin Galactic.

“We’ve had our challenges, and to finally get to the point where we are at least within range of space altitude is a major deal for our team,” George Whitesides, Virgin Galactic’s chief executive, told reporters during a facilities tour on Wednesday in Mojave, where workers could be seen making pre-flight inspections of the rocket plane.